Acupressure is a form of treatment for various conditions and maladies. It was generally believed that there are patterns of energy flow through the body that are essential for proper health maintenance. Imbalance or disruption of energy flow through any of these patterns is believed to be responsible for diseases. The energy flow patterns through the body have been mapped extensively and there are substantial numbers of points, called “sheh” herein, along the flow patterns where the energy flow is close to the skin surface. In one aspect, acupressure is to apply stimulation at that “sheh” point to modulate the flow of energy and modify the dynamics in the energy flow. When done properly, acupressure therapy rejuvenates the energy flow to one of balance and restoration of health.
Thus, acupressure therapy is a simple inexpensive technique, with virtually no negative side effects, that could greatly enhance the treatment of many health conditions if it were readily available to the lay public. Acupressure is a direct offshoot of acupuncture wherein one or more known points on the surface of the skin receive pressure instead of having a needle inserted. The concept remains the same. It is to re-institute balanced energy flow as treatment of a malady caused by an imbalance in the energy flow through the body. Western medical research has also shown physiological effects, including reflexes and neurohumoral effects of acupuncture and acupressure in human subjects. Several acupressure devices are known in the art, for example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,866,597, 3,886,939, 3,987,787, and 4,022,189, all issued to Boxer. The devices disclose make and use of one or more small rigid objects that are applied by the user to one or more particular points of the user's body.
The benefits of massage and acupressure have been known for centuries. Massage as a form of therapy has been used by almost all cultures for thousands of years, dating back to the ancient Greeks and Romans where Hippocrates extolled its virtues as a form of medical treatment. There are currently over 100 different types of massage therapy being practiced today. Acupressure is a specific type of massage, dating back over 5,000 years in ancient China. The technique consists of applying localized pressure to specific points (that is, “sheh” as defined herein) on the body as opposed to acupuncture which inserts needles into these same points. The effects of acupressure and acupuncture are similar. Studies have demonstrated that acupuncture stimulates the nervous system, causing alterations in the amount of neurotransmitters and/or neurohormones released, thus resulting in changes in blood flow, immune function and/or pain perception. The effects of massage and acupressure such as reduction in pain, muscle tension and stress are well documented.
Other physical methods which have been scientifically proven to reduce pain and muscle spasm include physical modalities such as applying heat or cold. In addition, recent medical studies have demonstrated that treatment with magnetic fields reduces muscular pain and is useful in treating persistent neck pain. Treatment with these types of modalities typically requires daily treatment. In fact, most types of pain and spasm respond better to daily treatment whether it is by physical modalities or massage. Indeed, many instructors of ancient healing arts and physical therapists instruct their clients on self management of pain using techniques of self massage, self acupressure or other self administered physical modalities. Thus, it is advantageous to be able to self-treat the painful area with a simple apparatus.
U.S. Patent Application publication No. 2004/0088036, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses a disc shaped device having two primary layers. A first layer has one side, which is the lower side in use, for adhering to a patient's skin surface, a second, upper layer on the underside of which electrical circuitry is printed or affixed so that the electrical circuitry is sandwiched between the layers.
U.S. Patent Application publication No. 2003/0045899, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses an acupressure device for each finger designed to be inserted by the end of the finger in order to provide pressure stimulation effects with protuberances of the inner surface of the device. The acupressure device for fingers includes an inserting unit for the end of a finger to be inserted, at one side, a cutting unit in a center of the inserting unit, a semi-circular base unit having a flat outer surface and an inner surface cast into a plurality of protuberances, and two fixing strips at both sides of the semi-circular base unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,458,146, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses an acupressure device for use on a selected skin surface portion of a human body. The device comprises a base sheet, one or more protrusions, a fastener, and an orienting margin, orienting constellation, orienting template or orienting protrusion, suitable to position the device on the selected skin surface. The invention also provides therapeutic methods comprising applying a devise of the invention to a human in need of therapy.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,774, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses a hand paddle for a paddle ball game including a back member with a back surface which is conformed generally to the shape of either a user's right or left hand. The paddle includes a contoured palm support region, a plurality of elongated finger receiving depressions extending from the palm support region and a thumb manipulation region adjacent to the palm support region and the elongated finger receiving depressions. Each elongated depression has a finger gripping ridge transverse thereto at a distal location relative to the palm support region for being gripped by the end of the finger positioned in that elongated depression. Retention straps, including finger straps, crisscrossed hand straps and a crisscrossed wrist strap are attached to the back member for holding the hand paddle on the user's hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,294, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses a hand paddle that has first and second paddle members which are spaced apart to receive a user's hand therein, and which each have a top portion, a bottom portion, and outer and inner surfaces. This paddle includes post members for connecting the paddle members together in a manner which maintains the outer surfaces in substantially parallel alignment. It also has first and second compressible layers positioned on the inner surfaces of the first and second paddle members, respectively. These layers are spaced apart and face each other with the spacing between the layers at the top portion of the paddle members being less than the spacing between the layers at the bottom portion of the paddle members so that a user's hand is snugly received therebetween.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,919, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses a table tennis handle-less paddle or racquet. A racquet is characterized by combination of two separate impact surfaces, between which a player's hand is inserted. The accessories and games are specifically designed as an integrated package, to develop motor skills for the young players, and to facilitate learning table tennis, starting from age five to six.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,684, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, describes an appliance for therapeutic pressure application, the appliance comprising at least one protuberance each having a base end anchored to a resilient medium and a point end for applying pressure to tissue, the medium having resilient, flexible and insulating properties to absorb the pressure between the point ends and the tissue so as to prevent pain, cut or penetration of the tissue by the point ends and to retain the heat generated by the tissue.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,669,657, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, describes a massage and tactile stimulation device in the nature of a hand covering such as a mitt, mitten, or glove to be worn on the hand of a masseur, therapist, or user preferably in the embodiment of a glove. The device having one or more predetermined prominent projections with or without friction areas. Both projections and friction areas may be of various shapes, sizes, colors, forms, and textures including smooth or pimpled. Both projections and friction areas are secured to effective working areas of glove to impart to a subject or patient a variety of distinct and improved manipulations such as deep pressure, grasping, and frictional rubbing.
The prior art teaches a conventional palm or singular finger acupressure apparatus that provides massage therapy for a patient. None of them discloses a simple stimulating finger apparatus with at least a surface comprising a plurality of protuberances configured for compressing against the fingers or palm muscle so as to stimulating and modulating the energy flow at about the skin surface. What is needed is a device that is relatively inexpensive, which can be applied by the user with both massage and exercise effects.